Prostate Cancer Center

Advanced prostate cancer care

The Prostate Cancer Center offers all the major options for treating localized, regional and metastatic prostate cancer, as well as retreatment options for those with recurrent prostate cancer.

Surgery

Our surgeons can complete a Da Vinci®* robotic prostatectomy. Using Da Vinci, the surgeon sits at a console and controls robotic arms equipped with miniature instruments. These arms provide enhanced dexterity, precision, and a magnified 3D view of the surgical site compared to traditional open surgery. The arms of the robot allow for precise dissection of tissues surrounding the prostate, minimizing damage to nerves and blood vessels responsible for urinary and sexual function. This is crucial for preserving continence and potency. Learn more about our robotic surgery options at AHN.

Radiation

Using radiation, your AHN Care Team can see detailed images of your prostate. We use external radiation therapy with daily image guidance using kV-cone beam computed tomography (CBCT), a type of medical imaging that uses cone-shaped X-ray beams to create three-dimensional (3D) images of bones, soft tissues, and blood vessels.

Treatment options include:

• Rectal spacer placement: A gel spacer is placed between the prostate and rectum, potentially reducing side effects from radiation therapy.
• Stereotactic body radiation therapy: Often done in five or less treatments, this precise form of radiation therapy delivers high doses of radiation to small, well-defined tumors in the body. It’s a sophisticated imaging technique that can accurately target the tumor while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. SBRT is often used as an alternative to surgery for patients who are not good candidates for surgical resection.
• Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT): This is an advanced form of radiation therapy that uses computer-controlled linear accelerators to deliver precise radiation doses to cancerous prostate tumors or specific areas within the tumor. IMRT modulates the intensity of the radiation beam in multiple small areas, allowing higher doses to be delivered to the tumor while minimizing exposure to surrounding healthy tissues. This technique can improve the therapeutic ratio, potentially increasing the chance of tumor control and reducing side effects.
• Linear accelerator based (LINAC): LINAC generates high-energy X-rays or electron beams to precisely target and destroy cancerous cells. In prostate cancer treatment, the LINAC delivers radiation beams shaped to conform to the prostate gland, maximizing the dose to the tumor while minimizing radiation exposure to surrounding organs like the bladder and rectum. This precise targeting, often aided by image guidance, aims to eradicate the cancerous cells and control the growth of the prostate tumor.
• MRI accelerator based: Allegheny General Hospital is the only hospital in the region to offer this special type of radiation therapy that combines an MRI with a linear accelerator. This allows your care team to get real-time pictures of your prostate during treatment and lets doctors to precisely target the cancer and adjust the radiation as needed. This advanced technology helps protect healthy tissues around the prostate, reducing side effects and improving the treatment's effectiveness.

Prostate brachytherapy

Both low-dose and high-dose brachytherapy are internal radiation therapies for prostate cancer, but they differ in the radiation dose delivered and treatment duration:

• Low-dose rate (LDR): Radioactive seeds are permanently implanted into the prostate, gradually releasing radiation. This usually requires a short hospital stay while the seeds are active.
• High-dose rate (HDR): Hollow catheters are temporarily placed in the prostate, and a radioactive source is passed through them for precise radiation delivery at a high dose rate in a few brief sessions. It is typically performed as an outpatient procedure or with a shorter hospital stay than LDR. radioactive source passes through inserted catheters.

Cryotherapy

This extreme cold can help to reduce inflammation, pain, and other symptoms by constricting blood vessels, slowing down nerve conduction, and reducing metabolic activity in the treated area. Cryotherapy for prostate cancer involves freezing and destroying the cancerous tissue within the prostate gland. Guided by ultrasound, small needles are inserted into the prostate to deliver extremely cold gases. This freezing process creates ice crystals that kill the prostate cancer cells. It's a minimally invasive option that aims to eradicate the tumor while preserving surrounding healthy tissue.

High-Intensity Frequency Ultrasound (HIFU)

The HIFU procedure for prostate cancer uses heat used to treat focal lesions in the prostate. HIFU is a non-invasive prostate cancer treatment that uses focused sound waves to generate heat and destroy targeted cancer cells within the prostate. A probe inserted into the rectum directs these focused ultrasound beams towards the cancerous areas. The intense heat ablates the tumor, essentially "cooking" the cancer cells. HIFU aims to eliminate the cancerous tissue while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy structures.

Prostate cancer specialists

AHN prostate cancer specialists are highly skilled, compassionate health care providers who see you and your needs first. By seeking care from AHN, you will be cared for by some of the best in the region who use advanced technologies, some that can only be found at AHN.

Radiation Oncology

Urology

Medical Oncology

How to get care

If you want to be tested for or have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, we’re here to help. Call (412) DOCTORS (412) 362-8677 to make an appointment with the Prostate Cancer Center. 

Please bring any pathology or imaging studies, on CD or through PowerShare, you may have regarding your cancer diagnosis to your first appointment.

Schedule a screening

AHN holds weekly and monthly cancer screening clinics throughout western Pennsylvania. We screen for seven different types of cancer, including prostate. You may be eligible to receive a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test.

Clinical trials and research

The Prostate Cancer Center team identifies treatment plans that include opportunities for new research on techniques that are aimed to improve and extend patient lives.

Cancer clinical trials and research

The AHN Cancer Institute is a pioneer in cancer research and participates in clinical trials of new medical oncology therapies that are open for patients who qualify and wish to participate. Patients are screened for consideration with ongoing clinical trials at every stage of their treatment. Learn more about our currently active prostate cancer clinical trials.

What is a clinical trial?

Clinical trials are studies that try to answer questions about new ways to treat cancer with medications, radiation, or surgical techniques. Previous trials have shown how new methods of treatment improve survival and quality of life and reduce the risk of cancer returning. You participate in a clinical trial only if you volunteer to do so and meet criteria for inclusion in the study, and you can stop participating in a trial at any time.

Who can join a clinical trial?

The plan for the trial, called a protocol, explains what the trial will do and how the study will be done. Based on the questions the research is trying to answer, each clinical trial protocol outlines specific criteria necessary to be eligible to join the trial.

Common criteria for entering a trial are:

• Having a certain type or stage of cancer.
• Having received a certain kind of therapy in the past.
• Being in a certain age group.
• Federal rules help ensure that clinical trials are run in an ethical manner, with your rights and safety protected. It’s to ensure that you’re not put at increased risk by participating in the trial, and that the results of the study are accurate and meaningful.

Conducting clinical trials helps us contribute to Cancer Moonshot — an initiative created by former President Joe Biden and the White House. The goal is to prevent more than 4 million cancer deaths by 2047 and improve the experience for people affected by cancer. We’re doing our part to join this fight by collaborating with more than 60 private companies, patient groups, academic institutions, and nonprofits.

Currently active cancer clinical trials

If you would like to participate in a clinical trial and help our innovative team discover groundbreaking cancer solutions, ask your doctor if you’re eligible to participate in one. Find currently active clinical trials that are open for participation.

Refer your patient to an AHN specialist

There are two ways for medical professionals, who are not a part of Allegheny Health Network, to refer their patients to an AHN specialist and request their first appointment. You can:

• (412) DOCTORS (412) 362-8677
• Schedule online
• Use MyChart and schedule with Dr. Nasir Chaudry to make an appointment.

For more information about referring your patient to an AHN specialist, read the Independent Physician Referral FAQs.